Overhead cabinets are conventionally and widely used in office environments and the like for storage of papers, books and miscellaneous. Such cabinets are conventionally mounted in an overhead position with respect to a worksurface, such as above a table or desk. In many such situations the cabinet is mounted on a side surface of a wall, such as a portable space-divider panel, and is positioned in upwardly spaced relationship from a worksurface so as to be reasonably accessible, but yet not interfere with use of the worksurface.
Overhead cabinets of the type discussed above have often employed an openable front door which moves with a combined hinging and translating (i.e. sliding) movement whereby the door is initially hinged upwardly into an open position, and then horizontally slidably moved rearwardly into a storage position wherein the door is disposed closely adjacent and positioned either above or below the top wall of the cabinet. Cabinets of this type employing what is oftentimes referred to as a “flipper” door have been extensively utilized for many years, but nevertheless have possessed recognized disadvantages with respect to ease of access and operation. More specifically, while the door oftentimes can be moved into an open position by a person seated adjacent a front of the worksurface, nevertheless closing of the door normally requires that the person stand and grip the front edge of the door and then pull the door outwardly while permitting it to swing downwardly into the closed position. Further, the door is frequently rather heavy, typically being constructed of particle board or metal, and gripping the door so as to move it into the upward open position, and conversely gripping and controlling the downward moving of the door into the closed position, generally requires substantial manual force in order to safely control and effect the opening and closing movements. This also frequently requires gripping of the lower edge of the door with both hands. Performing the door opening and closing function has also been undesirable in that such cannot typically be conveniently accomplished in a seated position. The complex or multiple phases of the door movement, and the significant forces associated therewith as discussed above, significantly increase the difficulty of opening and closing the cabinet door.
In an attempt to improve on cabinets of this general type, some cabinets have been provided with a door which is solely swingable between open and closed positions. In these known cabinets, the door has been provided with end panels or arms which provide a horizontal swinging axis so that the door solely swings between a closed position and a generally overhead open position. Cabinets of this latter type, however, have generally possessed features which have been less than desirable. For example, in some of the cabinets the door has been solely manually swingable in both the opening and closing direction which, coupled with the unbalanced weight of the door, has made the opening and closing movement less than desirable. Other cabinets of this type, in an attempt to improve on the unbalanced door weight, have provided gas springs to assist in overcoming the door weight during opening of the door, but contrarily the gas springs cause the force required for closing the door to be increased. Other cabinets have employed counterweight structures coupled to the door and associated with the cabinet end panels in an attempt to at least partially balance the door weight during the opening and closing swinging movements thereof.
In known storage cabinets of the different types discussed above, substantially all of the cabinets have necessarily required either a complex movement mechanism including gear racks or ball slides for permitting the “flipper” door of the cabinet to undergo the required swinging and translating movement between open and closed positions, or conversely have required additional and more complex structures such as counterbalances and swinging arms when the door is supported for solely swinging movement between the open and closed positions. These latter cabinets employing solely swinging doors have also generally encountered more severe restraints with respect to the configuration of the cabinet. Overall, the known cabinets have hence provided undesired restraints with respect to the structure and complexity of the cabinet, and yet have not succeeded in providing a light-weight but durable door which can be readily and easily manually moved between open and closed positions, while at the same time permitting the cabinet to employ a simple cabinet structure which maximizes the storage capacity thereof and permits the overall cabinet to be manufactured in an efficient and economical manner.
Examples of known overhead storage cabinets are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,115,345, 2,301,856, 2,551,305, 2,590,028, 3,730,378, 4,167,298, 4,371,223, 5,050,944, 5,172,969, 5,409,308, 5,845,980 and 6,227,635.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved door for a storage cabinet, such as an overhead storage cabinet for use in an office environment, which is believed to significantly improve upon prior cabinets of this general type, and particularly is believed to overcome many of the disadvantages mentioned above.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a storage cabinet employing a door which is formed in one monolithic piece from a thin sheet of light-weight but relatively rigid material, such as compressed resin-bonded plastic fibers, with the door employing a pair of door panels, such as upper and lower door panels integrally joined through a living hinge.
Additionally, the invention relates to an improved overhead storage cabinet wherein the door, as aforesaid, also includes an upper mounting panel which fixes to the cabinet structure and joins through a further living hinge to the upper door panel, whereby the door moves with a compound swinging-translational movement between a closed position wherein the front of the lower panel substantially closes off an open front side of the cabinet structure and a closed position wherein the door is stored in a generally flat condition overhead of the cabinet structure. The relative rigidity but light weight of the door permits ease of operation of the door in both opening and closing directions, and at the same time permits storage of the open door in a generally flat overhead position so as to not interfere with or impair the overall aesthetics of the storage cabinet and of the surrounding environment.
In the storage cabinet of the present invention as aforesaid, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper door panel is generally horizontally oriented so as to overlie the front portion of the cabinet structure when the door is in a closed position, and this upper door panel then hinges upwardly and rearwardly about the second living hinge for disposition in a flat condition generally over the rear portion of the cabinet structure when in the open position. Simultaneous with the above movement, the lower door panel is lifted and pivoted vertically relative to the upper door panel about the first living hinge so as to be moved upwardly and rearwardly for disposition in a generally flat condition overhead of the cabinet structure, whereby the lower door panel in the open position overlies the upper door panel and projects forwardly of the top of the cabinet such that the free edge over the lower door panel projects into a position adjacent the upper front corner of the cabinet so as to permit ease of gripping thereof. When in the open position, the disposition of the door and specifically the lower door panel, coupled with the relatively rigid but light weight of the door, permits the lower door panel to be pulled downwardly upon application of only minimal manual force, which in turn causes the upper door panel to swing upwardly and forwardly carrying with it the lower door panel so that the door moves into its closed position.
The door and its integral and monolithic one-piece construction is preferably provided with rolled edge flanges for reinforcement of the door and positioning abutment with the front edges of the cabinet structure end panels.
The storage cabinet of the present invention, as aforesaid, and specifically the mounting flange associated with the integral one-piece door is preferably formed as a large covering panel which overlies and is fixed relative to a top wall of the cabinet structure which is positioned generally adjacent the rearward half of the cabinet whereby the integral one-piece door member provides a uniform appearance throughout substantially the full extent of the front and upper sides of the cabinet when the door is in the closed position.
In the storage cabinet of the present invention, as aforesaid, the integral and one-piece door member is preferably formed by heating and compressing a mat of plastic fibers intermixed with a binder so that compression of the heated mat within an appropriate mold results in the door member having the desired shape and in particular provides a relatively rigid, strong but lightweight door member having panel sections with small thicknesses. As an example, it is contemplated that the lower door panel may have a thickness of about one-fourth inch but will additionally typically be provided with in-turned reinforcing flanges associated with some of the edges thereof, whereas the upper door panel will preferably be provided with a slightly greater thickness, such as for example three-eighths inch, due to its horizontal orientation when the door is in the closed position. The integral fiber-formed one-piece door and its monolithic construction permits the various door panels to be provided with different thicknesses, including different thicknesses along the edges of the respective panels if desired, and additionally permits living hinges of significantly reduced thickness to be defined widthwise across the door member to hence permit relative hinging movement between the lower and upper door panels about the first living hinge while additionally permitting relative hinging movement between the upper and mounting panels about the second living hinge.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with constructions of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following descriptions for convenience in reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “upwardly” and “downwardly” will also refer to the normal directions of movement of the door when moving between closed and opened positions. The words “front” and “rear” will refer to those sides of the storage cabinet which are respectively disposed closest to and remote from the user, these respectively being the right and left sides as appearing in FIGS. 7-10. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the cabinet and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.